macOS – How to Grant App Permission to Read Whole Filesystem

mac-appstoremacos

I bought this app called Xee from the Mac app store. It can open files perfectly fine but when I try to browse through a folder from within the Xee app, it has to request permission. (See the screenshot below.) I have to do this for every folder the first time I browse it.

I assume that this is a limitation imposed by the app store. Is there any way to circumvent this and grant an app (installed on my machine) permission to view any directory, or even to do anything at all that it wants?

Screenshot

Best Answer

It's a bit tricky but, but you can remove the sandbox by changing the <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> value (which is set to <true/>) with a hex editor.

In macOS Sierra 10.12 set it to into <false/>
In macOS El Capitain 10.11 or earlier set it to <fals/>

For Xee you need to edit the following binaries:

  • /Applications/Xee³.app/Contents/MacOS/Xee³
  • /Applications/Xee³.app/Contents/Loader/Xee3.ImageLoader

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7018354/remove-sandboxing

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